THE STORY: As the New York Observer comments: "The play opens during the three-year siege of Leningrad, as three young people - two boys and a girl - find shelter together and establish a triangular relationship. The girl wants to be a doctor. One of the boys dreams of becoming a poet, while the other has decided to be an engineer so that he may build bridges. The intricacies of the triangle, the rising and falling of their hopes for each other and themselves, over the next seventeen years provide the drama of the play. Arbuzov has constructed his work simply but soundly; the framework is broad and flexible, allowing the action to evolve organically. There is no attempt to establish dominant symbolic overtones in the writing, and, thankfully, this is mirrored in the production; the playwright is concerned with the literal situation, its obvious reality, and any attempt to place the work within a rigid symbolic structure would have strangled it. As it is, the play lives and breathes a sense of truth and an optimism all its own."

Novel in form but filled with a deep sense of humanity, the play offers both a unique theatrical experience and a fascinating glimpse into life in the Soviet Union. "among the strongest of Broadway's offerings this season" - Village Voice. "A fine and moving play, warmed by gentle humanism and ablaze with superb performances" - Cue Magazine. "It is honest, serious, at times even engrossingits merits are considerable." - NY Times.

Publisher

Dramatists Play Service Inc.

Format

Play

Binding

Softcover

ISBN

9780822209218

Stock code

9780822209218

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